Kent State football team mourn death of teammate

KENT (AP) — Kent State coach Paul Haynes says players grieving the death of center Jason Bitsko plan to honor him by wearing his number 54 on their helmets this season.

The 21-year-old Bitsko was found unresponsive in the bedroom of his off-campus apartment on Wednesday morning. The school says police believe he passed away from an undetermined medical issue.

Haynes said Thursday that Bitsko’s death is a tragic loss and that his players will get through the situation together.

Bitsko was in his fourth year with the Golden Flashes and was slated to start at center. He started all 12 games in 2013.

 

More Missouri students testify against ex-player

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two more former University of Missouri students have gone public with assault allegations against ex-running back Derrick Washington, including a women’s soccer player who said her coach suggested she could lose her scholarship if she pursued her complaint that Washington punched her in a 2010 fight.

A second woman says Washington raped her on campus. Prosecutors declined to file charges in that case, despite a request to do so by campus police.

Washington couldn’t immediately be reached.

University Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin says the school “made mistakes” by not investigating the sex assault as federal law requires.

Washington was convicted in 2011 of deviate sexual assault against a former school tutor and served four months of a five-year prison sentence.

 

Brazilian soccer man dies after fight by rival fans

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian authorities say a man has died from head injuries sustained in a clash between rival fans before a league match at the weekend.

Sao Paulo police said Thursday that 31-year-old Palmeiras fan Gilberto Torres Pereira was hit on the head with iron bars and pieces of wood during fighting with Corinthians supporters last Sunday. He was in an intensive care unit since the day of the fight and had undergone brain surgery.

The fight broke out when rival groups crossed paths at a train station outside Sao Paulo. Corinthians fans were returning from an event and Palmeiras supporters were heading to watch the team’s match against Sao Paulo later in the day.

 

Judge drops rape charge against ex-Tiger pitcher

DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Thursday dismissed rape charges against former Detroit Tigers pitcher Evan Reed, saying the testimony of the woman who accused him wasn’t credible and prosecutors failed to show that force or coercion took place.

Reed, 28, said he was “elated” to be cleared of the third-degree criminal sexual conduct charges. He was with the Tigers at the time of the March incident and appeared in 27 games for Detroit before being sent to his current assignment with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens.